Peter did not feel very brave; indeed, he felt he was going to be sick. But that made no difference to what he had to do. He rushed up to the monster and aimed a slash of his sword at its side. That stroke never reached the Wolf. Quick as lightning it turned round, its eyes flaming, and its mouth wide open in a howl of anger. If it had not been so angry that it simply had to howl it would have got him by the throat at once. As it was ”“ though all this happened too quickly for Peter to think at all ”“ he had just time to duck down and plunge his sword, as hard as he could, between the brute’s forelegs into its heart.
–The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (New York: HarperCollins; Reprint ed. 2008), p.120 (my emphasis)